Introducton to ICT

• Storage
• Data access methods
• Magnetc disk, hard disk, optcal disc
• Flash storage
• Cloud storage
• Disk partton
 Storage
• Storage is used to store data, informaton and
programs permanently and is also known as
secondary storage.
• It is non-volatle as its contents remain safe if
computer is turned of.
• Storage is required for the following reasons
– Main memory is a temporary memory.
– The capacity of main memory is limited
 Storage Device
• A storage device is a hardware unit used to
store and retrieve data to and from a storage
medium.
 Storage Device
• Two important functons of a storage device
are reading and writng.
• Reading is the process of copying data and
instructons from the storage medium to the
storage device.
• Writng is the process of copying data and
instructons from the storage device to storage
medium.
 Storage Device
• A storage device can be compared on the
basis of following characteristcs
• Capacity: it is the maximum amount of data
that can be stored. It is usually measured in
gigabytes or terabytes.
• Speed: speed is measured by access tme and
data transfer rate.
 Storage Device
• Access tme is the tme in which a device
locates an item on a storage medium and is
measured in milliseconds (ms).
• Transfer rate is the speed with which data can
be transferred to and from a device. It is
measured in kilobytes/second (KBps),
megabyte/second(MBps), gigabyte/second
(GBps).
 Basic units of data storage
• Basic units of data storage are as follows
– Bit: Computer works with binary digits. These
digits are in the form of 0’s and 1’s. A binary digit
is called bit. One bit takes one storage locaton in
memory. It is the smallest unit for data storage.
– Byte: A collecton of eight bits is called byte. It is
used to store single character. The capacity of the
memory or the storage is expressed in terms of
bytes.
 Basic units of data storage
• Kilobyte: A kilobyte consists of 1024 bytes. It
is denoted by KB.
• Megabyte: A megabyte consists of 1024
kilobytes. It is denoted by MB.
• Gigabyte: A gigabyte consists of 1024
megabytes. It is denoted by GB.
• Terabyte: A terabyte consists of 1024
gigabytes. It is denoted by TB
Diference between
memory and storage
 Data Access Methods
• Diferent methods of accessing data from
secondary storage devices are
– Random access method
– Sequental access method
 Data Access Methods
• Random access method
– Random access means that data can be retrieved directly
from any locaton on the storage medium in any order.
– Random access devices move directly to a partcular
locaton on the medium when data located at that
locaton is needed.
– Almost all storage devices used with computers today are
random access devices such as hard drives, CD/DVD
drives and USB fash drives.
– It is also known as direct access method.
 Data Access Methods
• Sequental access method
– Sequental access means that data can be retrieved
in the same order in which it is stored on the
medium.
– The data can not be accessed directly.
– This method reads the data from the beginning and
contnues reading data untl the required data is
found.
– This is a slow and tme consuming method and is not
commonly used.
 Magnetc Disk
• Magnetc disk use magnetc material to store
data, instructons and informaton on disk surface.
• The data on magnetc disks is stored in tracks and
sectors.
• Tracks form circles on the surface of a magnetc
disk.
• Each track is divided into sectors and each sector
typically stores upto 512 bytes of data.
• Hard disk is the most widely used magnetc disk.
 Hard Disk
• Hard disk is the primary storage device in a
computer to store the programs and data
permanently.
• It is also known as hard disk drive (HDD) or
hard drive (HD).
 Hard Disk
• A hard disk drive is a non-volatle data storage
device.
• It is usually installed internally in a computer,
attached directly to the disk controller of the
computer's motherboard.
• It contains one or more platters, housed inside of
an air-sealed casing.
• Data is written to the platters using a magnetc
head, which moves rapidly over them as they spin.
 Hard Disk
• Internal hard disks reside in a drive bay,
connected to the motherboard using a
SATA cable.
• They are powered by a connecton to the
computer's PSU (power supply unit).
• Examples of data stored on a computer's hard
drive include the operatng system,
installed sofware, and the user's personal fles.
 Why does a computer
need a hard drive?
• A computer requires an operatng system to allow
users to interact with and use it.
• The operatng system interprets keyboard and mouse
movements and allows for the use of sofware, like
an Internet browser, word processor, and video
games.
• To install a computer operatng system, a hard drive is
required.
• The hard drive provides the storage medium where
the operatng system is installed and stored.
 Why does a computer
need a hard drive?
• A hard drive is also required for the
installaton of any programs or other fles you
want to keep on your computer.
• When downloading fles to your computer,
they are permanently stored on your hard
drive or another storage medium untl they
are moved or uninstalled.
Hard drives in modern computers
• Modern computers ofen use an SSD (solid-state drive) as
the primary storage device, instead of an HDD.
• HDDs are slower than SSDs when reading and writng data,
but ofer greater storage capacity for the price.
• Although an HDD may stll be used as a computer's primary
storage, it's common for it to be installed as a secondary
disk drive.
• For example, the primary SSD may contain the operatng
system and installed sofware, and a secondary HDD may
be used to store documents, downloads, and audio or
video fles.
 Hard drive components
• A hard drive consists of the following components: the head
actuator, read/write actuator arm, read/write head, spindle, and platter.
• On the back of a hard drive is a circuit board called the disk controller or
interface board. This circuit is what allows the hard drive to communicate
with the computer.
 Hard Drive: Storing Capacity
• The hard drive is ofen capable of storing more
data than any other drive, but its size can vary
depending on the type of drive and its age.
• Older hard drives had a storage size of several
hundred MB (megabytes) to several GB (gigabytes).
• Newer hard drives have a storage size of several
hundred gigabytes to several TB (terabytes).
• Each year, new and improved technology allows for
increasing hard drive storage sizes.
 External Hard Drives
• Although most hard drives are internal, there are also
stand-alone devices called external hard
drives or portable hard drives that backup data on
computers and expand the available space.
• External drives are ofen stored in an enclosure that
helps protect the drive and allows it to interface with
the computer, usually over USB, eSATA, or FireWire.
• External hard drives come in many shapes and sizes.
• Some are large, about the size of a book, while others
are about the size of a large smartphone.
 Optcal Disk
• Optcal disk is a form of removable storage.
• Optcal drives use a laser to read and write
data on optcal disk.
• The most common types of optcal media
are Blu-ray, CDs, and DVDs.
• Computers can read and write to CDs and
DVDs using a CD writer or DVD writer drive,
and a Blu-ray is read with a Blu-ray drive.
 Optcal Disk
• A CD drive can only read CDs, a DVD drive can
only read DVDs and CDs, and a Blu-ray drive
can read CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.
• CDs can store up to 700 megabytes (MB) of
data, and DVDs can store up to 8.4 GB of data.
• Blu-ray discs, which are the newest type of
optcal media, can store up to 50 GB of data.
 Optcal Disk
• With the popularity of streaming
content and downloading content from the
Internet, the popularity of all optcal media
has greatly reduced.
• Also, the reduced price of USB fash
drives that store a lot more data have made
optcal media a less popular storage soluton.
 Flash Memory
• Flash memory is a non volatle memory.
• It does not need contnuous power to retain the
data and is more expensive than magnetc
storage.
• Data stored on fash memory storage can be
erased and new data can be written.
• Flash memory is widely used with cell
phones, digital cameras, PDAs, solid-state drives
and tablets.
 Flash Memory: USB Flash Drive
• USB fash drive is a fash memory storage device that
is connected to a USB port in computer or mobile
device.
• It is very easy to use because it is light in weight and
small in size.
• It is commonly used to transfer documents, photos,
music and videos from one computer to other.
• It is available in diferent shapes, sizes and capacites.
• It can store up to 256 GB of data or more.
 Cloud Storage
• Cloud storage is a service for the computer and
mobile users to store their data online.
• This service is provided and managed by cloud
storage service provider in data centers that
may consist of hundreds of servers to store
data.
• The data center can be located anywhere in the
world, and users can also access their data from
anywhere in the world using internet.
 Cloud Storage
• Some service providers, provides storage for
specifc media such as photos while other
allows users to store any type of data and
provide backup services.
• Cloud storage also allow users to share data
with other people.
• Some important examples are DropBox, Apple
iCloud, Google Drive and Microsof OneDrive.
 Cloud Storage
• OneDrive:
– It is a cloud storage service provided by Microsof.
– It can be used to store any type of data.
– The fles are stored by their type and can be searched
easily.
– This service can be accessed from computer and mobile
devices.
– One must signup for a Microsof account to use One Drive.
– It provides 15GB of free space for storing fle and more
space can be purchased if required.
 Cloud Storage
• DropBox:
– It is a popular cloud storage service that is reliable and easy
to use.
– Users can store and access their fles at any tme using
DropBox's website, desktop applicaton or mobile
applicaton.
– Any type of fle can be stored and service automatcally
synchronizes the fles across all devices.
– It provides 2 GB free space on signup and user can also buy
more space if required.
– There is no limit on fle size.
 Cloud Storage
• Google Drive:
– It is a cloud storage service from Google.
– Any user with a google account can access this
service using Google drive website as well as desktop
or mobile applicaton.
– It provides diferent services such as word processor,
spreadsheet applicaton and presentaton builder.
– It provides 15 GB of free space and maximum fle
size can be up to 10 GB.
 Disk Partton
• The process of parttoning a hard drive into
separate logical areas is known as disk parttoning.
• It is a disk management technique.
• Physical capacity of a hard drive is divided into
separate logical areas known as parttons.
• Parttons work as independent hard drives and are
also known as logical drives.
• Each partton is labelled such as C Drive, D Drive, E
Drive.
 Disk Partton
• Many new personal computers come with teo
parttons, C drive is usually for operatng
system and D drive is used to store other
applicatons and data.
• Multple parttons can be used to install two
diferent operatng systems on the same hard
dtve such as windows and Linux.
 Disk Partton
• Storing data fles on separate partton makes
it easier to search them.
• It also enables the users to back up all data
fles easily by backing up the entre partton
containing data.
• Formatng a partton must be done carefully
as deletng a partton erases all data on that
partton.
 Disk Partton
• Windows usually creates two basic types of
parttons: primary partton and secondary
partton.
 Disk Partton
• Primary Partton is a type of partton that can
be uses as system partton.
• It contains hardware specifc fles required to
load windows.
• A primary partton can be created to occupy the
entre hard disk or a porton.
• The primary partton should be formatted as a
single logical drive only, it cannot be divided into
multple logical drives
 Disk Partton
• Extended Partton is a type of partton that can be
divided into sub-parttons known as logical drives.
• A hard disk can have only one extended partton.
• Extended partton can be formatted to create drives.
• Any number of drives can be created on an extended
partton unlike primary partton and each of these
drive can be designated by an alphabet.